false 295 446 440 true 5676719 read 0 true 2120259 currently-reading 6 true 2120258 to-read 6 false 3681382 wishlist http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77918805 to: Revelations (Blue Bloods, #3) by Melissa de la Cruz
Schuyler Van Alen feels trapped. Although her grandfather Lawrence is back, Schuyler has been forced by the court system to live with her uncle Charles Force and forbidden by her uncle to see or talk with Lawrence or her best friend Oliver. Living in the imposing Force household is nothing if uncomfortable despite its many luxuries; Mimi constantly targets her to satisfy her petty spite and Jack, her forbidden crush, won’t even as much as look at her. The only things that can comfort Schuyler are her secret meetings with her forbidden acquaintances. As Schuyler’s many secrets get tangle dup, she finds her love life isn’t the only thing in trouble. An ancient source of power located in Rio de Janeiro is being threatened by the Silver Bloods. Lawrence and a small team of Venators fly south to investigate, but when the Conclave announces these Blue Bloods are in trouble and Schuyler loses contact with her grandfather, the worse is suspected. As the inevitable battle between the Blue Bloods and Silver Bloods looms even closer, Schuyler will have to determine who’s friend and who’s foe if she and the ones she loves are to survive.

Once again, de la Cruz has delivered a fast-paced story about an epic power struggle between good and evil, complicated by hidden double agents and judgments clouded by fear. I just adore the Blue Bloods series; it is one of my favorite vampire series because of how it combines an original interpretation of vampires, historical events, and angel versus demon struggles of biblical proportion with present day technology and culture. Revelations is the third installment in Schuyler’s adventures, and the war between the Blue Bloods and Silver Bloods is going from bad to worse. The Blue Bloods always seem to be one step behind their cunning enemies. This leads to much strife among the Blue Bloods, many of which refuse to believe their way of life is falling apart. I commend de la Cruz for her skill at first creating an interesting plot and then surprising the reader with every shocking twist and turn. This story is not one the reader can easily predict the outcome of, and that makes reading it all the more exciting. In addition to a fantastic plot, I liked the complication of the characters’ relationships and the struggle between who is meant to be and who wants to be. On a side note, I like the wording and vocabulary used in this story, because I don’t feel stupid when indulging my appetite for glamorous vampire tales.

Fans of this novel’s prequels, Blue Bloods and Masquerade, will not want to miss Revelations. Readers who liked Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and The Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare will also enjoy this series.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77918118 to: My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers, #1) by Rachel Vincent
Something is not right with Kaylee Cavanaugh. For nearly as long as she can remember, there have been instances where she has been somehow compelled to scream because of a horrible feeling she gets about some person—a person who then dies. And without fail, all of Kaylee’s premonitions have come true. Kaylee doesn’t want to know why these strange things keep happening to her; she only wishes they would go away because she’s tired of being the freak in the family. But things do quite smooth over when Kaylee catches the eye of Nash, the most popular guy in school. And when beautiful young girls start dropping dead for no reason, Kaylee’s secret compulsion to scream is at risk of being exposed. All the Kaylee knows for sure is that something sinister and probably supernatural is at work, and since she’s the only one who’s aware of the next victim, she’s got to do something to stop it.

My Soul to Take is a paranormal novel filled with danger, mystery, secrets, and romance. I was primarily interested in this book because I loved Vincent’s storytelling in Stray and because I’d never read about banshees or bean sidhes as Irish folktales call them. As fascinating and unique I found Vincent’s take on paranormal beings and the afterlife, and as sweet Kaylee and Nash’s relationship was, there was something about this novel that didn’t quite flow for me. Firstly, Nash’s dedication to Kaylee was suspicious to me; when reading, I had a nagging feeling that Nash was hiding something even after he revealed Kaylee’s true identity. Kaylee’s character was slightly more believable, but her acceptance of the fact that she wasn’t human came a little too quickly. For the most part, though, this wasn’t a huge issue, and I quite enjoyed this creative paranormal mystery and look forward to learning more about Kaylee’s abilities and history in the sequel, My Soul to Save.

This novel will be enjoyed by fans of Stray by Rachel Vincent and Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76315475 to: I'm So Sure (The Charmed Life, #2) by Jenny B. Jones
Truman, Oklahoma hasn’t turned out as horribly as Bella Kirkwood thought it would. Sure, her desitned label allowance has been drastically cut, but with new friends and a comfy position on the school newspaper staff, she’s feeling pretty good. It also helps that nearly everyone thinks she’s some sort of Nancy Drew ever since she figured out what was really going on with the football team. Unfortunately, now that Bella’s stepdad, a semi-pro wrestler, has signed their family up for a reality TV show, Bella’s life is about to take a turn for the unbearable once again. As if navigating her relationship with her newspaper editor Luke, a rekindled friendship with her ex-boyfriend Hunter, and all of her reporting assignments wasn’t hard enough, now she has to do it in the public eye thanks to the camera crew that stalks her. And before she knows it, Bella finds herself pursuing yet another mystery at Truman High, this one regarding the upcoming prom. How’s a girl to keep her cool in the face of all this, especially when the threats of danger start coming?

I’m So Sure was just as cute, hilarious, and clever as its prequel So Not Happening proved to be. Bella’s character is even more likable in this story since most traces of her spoiled Manhattan princess roots have been humbled by her acceptance of her new life in Oklahoma and she remains just as determined and hardworking as ever. I must admit, I generally dislike the inclusion of reality shows in books because of their tendency to turn even the most upright people into publicity hungry brats, but the wrestling show actually worked well in this novel because it reinforced many of Bella’s morals. Although I felt the main mystery of this story about prom was less creative and interesting that the one in So Not Happening, I still quite enjoyed it as well as Bella and Luke’s somewhat cryptic but still sweet relationship. If there’s one main thing about I’m So Sure that irked me, it was that religion was slightly more emphasized in this novel than in its prequel. I do realize that I’m So Sure is technically Christian fiction and that the inclusion of faith is to be expected, but there were several instances in which the religious preferences were just unnecessary and the slightest bit annoying.

Fans of the So Not Happening, the prequel to I’m So Sure, will eagerly snatch up this novel as well as look forward to the next installment in The Charmed Life series, So Over My Head. This series may also be enjoyed by readers who liked Pure by Terra Egan McVoy and It’s All About Us by Shelley Adina.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76314317 to: Intertwined (Hardcover) by Gena Showalter
Aden Stone wishes he was just a normal guy. Instead, he’s spent the majority of his life shuffled in and out of various foster homes and mental institutions, all because for some reason, he’s got four souls living inside him aside from his own. Aden doesn’t know how they got there or how to get rid of them, so in the meantime, he just has to deal with four distinct voices constantly babbling inside his head and the side effects of each soul’s unique ability, to time travel, predict the future, raise the dead, or possess other people. When Aden moves to Crossroads, Oklahoma, it’s like brand new start for him, although not without its own complications. Aden finds himself with an unusual set of companions: Mary Ann, a girl completely unlike himself who somehow quiets the voices inside his head; a shapeshifter who’d rather see him dead; and Victoria, a vampire princess Aden can’t get out of his mind. All too soon, Aden finds himself the center of an otherworldy conflict with danger flying at him from all sides. The oods are stacked squarely against him, and it’s unlikely everyone will come out unscathed.

There’s no doubt that Intertwined is an exciting novel, filled with action and a galore of supernatural threats to keep any reader on the edge of their seat, but at the same item, there was something about this story that was quite irksome to me. I didn’t mind the plethora of supernatural creatures or even their rather unoriginally interpreted characteristics. Aden’s background of being constantly institutionalized and psychoanalyzed also made sense. Where the story started to break apart for me was the convenience of it all. I’m not saying everything was always sunshine and rainbows; that wouldn’t make for much of a story. It started with the main characters’ physical perfection; bodies sculpted like Grecian statues tend to become unrealistic. And it wasn’t just each of these character’s prettiness. Many major plot events I could correctly guess chapters before they occurred because the clues were just so convenient. And what really bothered me the most was how convenient the ending was; after all that difficulty and struggle, it would seem the termination to this tale would be a little more complicated. It was the little things that didn’t allow me to connect to the characters, however hot and sexy they were, and completely get into the story. And especially after all the positive buzz surrounding this novel, I was frankly disappointed.

Intertwined may be enjoyed by fans of Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I suspect there will be a sequel to this novel, but I don’t know how eager I’d be to snatch it up.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76312858 to: The Last Thing I Remember (The Homelanders) by Andrew Klavan
The last day Charlie West can remember was a perfectly normal day. He was a regular high school kid doing regular things like his schoolwork, practicing karate, chatting with his friends, and getting nervous around the girl of his dreams. He was a good kid who listened to his parents, prayed, treated girls with respect, and loved his country. But now, Charlie has just woken up in a living nightmare. He’s strapped to a chair and covered in his own blood and bruises. Someone outside his torture chamber just ordered his death. Charlie has no idea where he is or how he got there. He doesn’t know why he’s so beaten up and supposed to be killed. And more importantly, he has no idea how he’s going to escape from his room alive.

There is no doubt that The Last Thing I Remember is an action packed story. However, an action filled plot by itself never made a complete story. Once everything else is added in, the results are not so savory. My largest issue had to with Charlie’s character; I just did not like him. He was too much the good kid, respectful of his parents and elders, religious, nice to pretty much everyone, and a tad too patriotic. People this good I find unrealistic unless they’ve got some other huge problem eating at them, but Charlie’s life was pretty much golden until he woke up in practically a torture chamber. Even then, I only had a little sympathy for him because the entire first part of the novel, I didn’t get what the point of the story was. Yes, the kid is in trouble and running from danger, but so what? Even through the rest of the novel where things take a turn for the slightly more interesting, I didn’t care much for Charlie. It was frankly annoying how much Charlie relied on religious faith and patriotism, sometimes even to questionably justify his actions. And what I liked least was the inclusion of terrorism, particularly the central role it plays in Charlie’s tale. All of this added together felt too much like a not-so-sneaky spoon feeding of right wing mentality; nothing against it, but is there’s one thing I hate being force fed besides religious views, it’s political ones. Tie in writing that’s sometimes cheesy and definitely nothing special, and you get this pretty mediocre action book.

The Last Thing I Remember appeals primarily to the teen male audience, especially those who enjoyed action flicks like the very similar Bourne movies. I’m not sure I’m interested in checking out the sequel, The Long Way Home since this novel was not one I particularly enjoyed.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76311394 to: Mirrorscape (Hardcover) by Mike Wilks
Melkin Womper has always loved to draw, so it’s a dream come true when he learns he’s eligible to be apprenticed to one of the greatest painters of the day, Ambrosius Blenk. And as soon as Mel leaves his home behind, he knows he’s in for the adventure of his life. The danger starts almost immediately, and Mel has to be extra careful in the unfamiliar city of Vlam not to run into the red robed men from the Fifth Mystery who are convinced Mil is responsible for theft and must be punished. Luckily, Mel has some new friends to look out for him, and the Master also has seemed to take a shine to him. As much as Mel would just like to improve his craft, he can’t avoid the power struggle between the Mystery and the Master he’s been caught in, because Mel has stumbled upon Mirrorscape, the world within paintings in which imagination is the only thing that truly matters. Stumbling in between Mirrorscape and the real world, Mel and his friends will have to use their wits and creativity if they are to survive and ultimately defeat the Mystery.

Mirrorscape is one of the most unique and enthralling fantasy stories I’ve ever read. Like in most fantasies, the unusual setting and specified language take a little getting used to, but thankfully, the new places and words weren’t so different that I couldn’t imagine them at all. I love the idea of hidden worlds within our own, so of course, I was drawn to Wilks’ Mirrorscape, the world within paintings. The very nature of this place lends itself to endless possibilities as far as one’s imagination can go, and that leads to some highly unusual, sometimes strange, but always interesting situations in this story. I heartily commend Wilks for his creative and exciting plot; there wasn’t a moment in this story that failed to capture my interest. In addition, I loved the political undercurrent to this enjoyable story; the corrupt bureaucracy that calls itself the Mystery reflects governmental corruption around the world and its repression of the arts and artistic expression, that of many civil liberties. Although I may be reading too much into the story, this adds a little something extra that makes an already fantastic story even better.

Mirrorscape is the type of story that will appeal to readers of all ages, especially those who enjoyed Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and Poison by Chris Wooding. I particularly cannot wait for the continuance of this story in Mirrorstorm, the second installment in this trilogy.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76309985 to: Breakfast at Bloomingdales (Mass Market Paperback) by Kristen Kemp
Cat’s a girl with a dream and a plan to achieve it. She’s going to New York City to be a famous fashion designer; particularly, she wants her own label to be sold at Bloomingdale’s. For all of Cat’s life, that’s been her dream, but now she’s perfectly poised to accomplish it by entering CosmoGIRL! and Bloomingdale’s The Finished Line fashion design contest. Armed with access to her late grandmother Nina’s bank account, killer design and sewing skills, and a one-way ticket to New York City, Cat is all ready for her new life. But once she arrives, it’s a little different and harder that she expected, and adjustments will have to be made accordingly, because giving up is not an option. The competition better look out. New and improved Cat Zappe, famous designed to be, is taking New York City by fashion storm.

By no surprise, Breakfast at Bloomingdale’s is all about fashion, but it’s also about hard work, dreams, and relationships. Most fashion novels I’ve read deal with the tail end of the fashion industry, the already crafted clothes and modeling. This story gives me new respect for the designing end; I had no idea that much education, experimentation, and design went into making the finished fashion product. I also didn’t know that designer hopefuls could be just as catty, for lack of a better word, as competitive models; Cat’s ability to keep a cool head most of the time in these situations earned even more of my respect. I absolutely loved reading about Cat’s character. She has impressive commitment and determination in reaching her goals and, more often than not, is rather smart in navigating through her relationships. I greatly admired her maturity and self control as well, and all this just made me hope she’d accomplish her dreams. Breakfast at Bloomingdale’s is a thoroughly enjoyable story to read because it shows that everything, for better or worse, is interconnected, that things have a way of working themselves out in the end, and that lack of success doesn’t necessarily translate into failure.

I recommend Breakfast and Bloomingdale’s for fans of Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker, Airhead by Meg Cabot, and the America’s Next Top Model series by Taryn Bell as well as to any teen girl, because Cat is a characters after ever reader’s heart. I look forward to reading more of Kemp’s writing, particularly a possible fashion savvy sequel to this sweet book.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74983583 to: So Not Happening (The Charmed Life, #1) by Jenny B. Jones
This can’t be happening. Bella Kirkwood cannot believe she has to trade her A-list friends, her famous daddy’s credit card, and every other perk of NYC for Oklahoma of all places, just because her mother got dumped and apparently fell in love with a factory worker she met on the internet. So it’s goodbye to everything trendy chic and hello to two alternatively dorky and bratty brothers. Difficulty adjusting would be putting Bella’s frame of mind lightly. It doesn’t help that all the students at her new school think she’s a nasty snob, especially Luke Sullivan, the annoying editor of the school newspaper Bella has to work under now that she’s the newest member of the staff. Despite feeling hurt that she’s been forsaken by the cultured world, Bella knows she can’t wallow in her misery, especially when she catches wind of something fishy going on. There’s something not quite right in Bella’s new home, and you can bet Bella will be there to expose the truth.

I wasn’t too sure about this book when I first started reading it. Big city girl forced into rural setting has been done many times before with not quite spectacular results, and I didn’t know how that combination with some kind of investigative journalism and religious beliefs would work out. Addressing the last topic first, I usually stay away from most religious fiction as a rule because I find it becomes overbearing. Jones nearly gets there several times in So Not Happening, but as a whole, it isn’t too bad, even if I found it strange protagonist Bella, a self proclaimed Christian, was so into shopping and material things. The urban to rural transition isn’t crafted particularly well or originally either; Bella exhibits many of the same characteristics as other girls in the same position in other stories, and her frequent complaining earned more of my annoyance than sympathy, even if she was quite clever at times. Where Jones’ writing really shone was in the mystery angle of the novel. The mystery succeeded in being intriguing, surprising, and just a bit dangerous, and it fit well into the story. Mostly for Bella’s budding reporter instincts, I enjoyed this interesting novel.

So Not Happening may be enjoyed by fans of the It’s All About Us series by Shelley Adina, The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman, and Pure by Terra Egan McVoy. I look forward to the sequel to this funny book in I’m So Sure.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ]]>